At times it is necessary to cancel an event or amend details. This note deals with event cancellations but similar actions are required to amend event details.
There have had some events cancelled with no notification to riders prior to the cancellation (the riders have just received their refund and no email to explain) or discussion with the District Secretary. This has led to emails to me where I have not known what was going on. It is discourteous to riders and all involved with an event not to communicate with them.
Whilst it is expected that all events in the calendar are run it is accepted that due to unforeseen circumstances, such as road works or really low entry numbers (there is no set minimum number - but 25 riders might be a working number and reducing prize money to break even), it may be necessary to cancel an event. On the occasion that this is deemed necessary the event organiser should:
1. Contact the District Secretary to discuss and confirm that there are no alternatives. In addition we can try to advertise the event on the West DC FB page to attract entries from those people who were thinking about entering but are part of the "lastminute.com" brigade.
2. Send an email to all riders via the CTT contact system for entries to inform them that the event is being cancelled. This gives them a chance to enter another event provided notification is prior to the standard Tuesday event entry closure day.
3. Put a warning notice on the event page on the CTT website to try to prevent any entries until the event has been cancelled by CTT. We can also put a note up on the West DC FB page.
4. Warn timekeepers and helpers that event is being cancelled.
5. Cancel any associated bookings with the event such as event HQ.
6. Calculate any "sunk" costs that need to be taken out of rider entry fee refunds.
7. Confirm with Stewart Smith that the event is to be cancelled, copying in the District Secretary so that Stewart knows that the District are aware. He will need to know if there are any sunk costs so this can be deducted from the rider entry fees refund. The CTT will cancel the event and give a refund to riders. Organisers should not reject riders as this is only normally done when a rider does not meet an entry criteria or an event is oversubscribed.
It is difficult to say when a decision to cancel should be taken but ideally it should be taken prior to the closing date to allow riders to enter another event. A decision based on numbers is difficult as with the online entry system many people leave it till the weekend or even the Tuesday night to enter. However, assuming that in the week prior to the event the organiser is becoming concerned the District Secretary should be contacted and then a decision made on the Sunday evening with the email going to riders that night. CTT can be notified that evening as well and generally the event will be cancelled the following day.
If the roadworks appear after an event has had the startsheet published options are generally limited as there are usually few alternative course options near the booked HQ. The event would either be cancelled or at times might run a shortened course, especially where the event was already a non-standard distance or the event was part of a competition such as the Hardriders where riders are earning points for participating. In general organisers should recognise that many riders may come some distance for what might only be 17 or 18 minutes of riding where a 10 mile event has been shortened to say 7 miles and I would question the value of running that event.
At times it may be necessary to abandon an event on the day due to bad weather or unplanned emergency roadworks. In these cases organisers may wish to organise a new event date which can be done in liaision with the District Secretary or just cancel the event. If an event is cancelled then the organiser should caclulate sunk costs and arrange for CTT to refund a balance to riders. If the event is reorganised then the event entries are carried over to the new date and the startsheet is deleted. Riders should be contacted in either case so they are kept informed. In the event of the race being run on a new date riders must be given a notification of the new date so they have the opportunity to withdraw in case they can no longer make the new date.
If the issue is roadworks then contacting the managing company can often produce surprising help. Recently Gigaclear, for example, suspended weekend roadworks to allow a race on U41 to continue as they knew they weren't actually working over the weekend. The one.network map is very useful at https://one.network/ for identifying most roadworks and most works are published well in advance, to give time to liaise with the managing company or perhaps change course. Of course a change of course will require a new PNF but usually direct liaison with your local police authority will get authority, even though not within the stipulated timeframe.